Jamestown, St Helena Island UK

 

Everyone knows about the lush, tropical South Pacific Islands, but the South Atlantic also has lush tropical islands!  St. Helena, an isolated volcanic island, is a tiny speck of Great Britain located in the South Atlantic Ocean.  It is a British colony.  It has been called “the forgotten Island”.  Jamestown, its only town, was a place of great strategic importance for ships for hundreds of years.  Before the Suez Canal was built over 1400 ships would visit St. Helena each year.  Now, except for St. Helena’s supply ship, there are fewer than 3 ships a year that come to Jamestown.  There is no airfield.  It is most noteworthy as the place of exile for Napoleon Bonaparte and it is where he died in 1821.  His tomb is on St. Helena, but he is not there, as he was moved to Paris in 1840.

 

 

Napoleon’s tomb is located in a beautiful setting, in the Valley of the Geraniums.

 

 

The Longwood House was where the Emperor Napoleon resided during his exile in the last few years of is life, and is where he died.  The Longwood House and the furnishings are owned by the French Government. 

 

 

 

We visited the home and grounds of St. Helena’s Governor.  The tortoise, Jonathan, the big one, is said to have lived on the grounds of the Longwood House when Napoleon was alive and is over 200 years old.  Next to him is his “girlfriend”. 

 

Jacobs Ladder was built in 1829 and is 699 steps long with a rise of 924 vertical feet.  It was originally used to transport goods to the top of the mountain before the roads were built.  Many people climbed it.  We looked at it and decided to rest on the laurels of our Sidney Bridge climb in February and not climb it.  Of course, we could have done it if we wanted to.  We did get to the top via our driver, huffed and puffed a few times to impress others, took the obligatory pictures, and looked down from above.  A beautiful view. 

 

We almost weren’t able to get onto St. Helena Island.  The concrete dock on the island is about 30 feet long.  Our ship had to anchor and we were tendered in by life boats to the small dock.  The seas were very rough causing the tender to move dramatically with the swells.  From the dock it could be a 3 foot step up or down to the dock depending on the wave.  Getting on and off meant that we had to time the wave on its way up or down and “jump” to the dock or back on the tender.  One tender was damaged out of the three used. Each load in or out carried about 100 passengers.  Risky but worth it.

We are now sailing in warm weather, heading to the equator again to cross it for the fourth time this trip.  The skies are beautiful and we have enjoyed viewing the Southern Cross.